PIGS I 313 



Tabi,e IV. — Comparison betu^een the cost of pip^s from old soics and those 



from ycnng sous. 



From autmini ti> the lime when the porkliiigs weighed go lbs 

 From immediatelv before birth until the above time . . . 



The young sows produce the porkliiigs at a cheaper cost, above all 

 because, being less in bulk, they require a smaller maintenance ration, and 

 they and their yotmg convert a larger proportion of the food into increase 

 in live weight. 



Cost of rearing pigs on lucerne pasturage supplemented by a grain ration, 

 during the summer. — The observations bore on i 345 pigs divided into 50 

 groups. The results show that the rate of increase of live weight is closely 

 connected with the quantity of grain consumed, and that the cost of the 

 increase of live weight rises with the rate of such increase. The lucerne 

 pasture is cheap and the grain ration is expensive. The increase in live 

 weight is cheap or dear according as it is produced principally by the for- 

 mer or the latter means. A ration of less than 2 lbs of grain per day per 

 100 lbs of live weight may produce pigs poor in growth. The average of 

 the results is set out in Table V. 



Table V. — Rearing pigs ivith lucerne pasturage and grain. 



Shorts for pigs kept during summer on lucerne pasturage. — A supple- 

 mentary ration of maize alone (grain) is compared with another ration made 

 up of ^/4 maize and 1/, shorts, and yet another ration made up of half maize 

 and half shorts. In the first case, the ration of maize alone produces some- 

 what more rapid increases of live weight at a slighth' less cost ; in the second 

 case, rather better results were obtained with the ration of maize and shorts, 

 btit the difference was always small. It is not desirable to replace maize by 

 shorts if the latter costs no less than the former. 



Dry or soaked maize for lucerne- pastured pigs. — Soaking the maize 

 grains does not give any advantage. 



